29 Acacia Avenue

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29 Acacia Avenue
"29 Acacia Avenue" (1945).jpg
Directed by Henry Cass
Written byDenis and Mabel Constanduros (play)
Muriel and Sydney Box (screenplay)
Produced bySydney Box
Starring Gordon Harker
Betty Balfour
Jimmy Hanley
Hubert Gregg
Jill Evans
Henry Kendall
Dinah Sheridan
Megs Jenkins
Noele Gordon
Guy Middleton
Cinematography Ernest Palmer
Robert Huke
Edited by Julian Wintle
Music by Muir Mathieson (musical director)
Production
companies
Distributed by Columbia Pictures Corporation (United Kingdom)
Oxford Films (United States)
Release dates
  • May 1945 (1945-05)(UK)
  • 30 October 1949 (1949-10-30)(US)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£30,000 [1] or £45,000 [2] [3]

29 Acacia Avenue (U.S. title: The Facts of Love) is a1945 British comedy-drama film directed by Henry Cass and starring Gordon Harker, Betty Balfour and Jimmy Hanley [4] [5] [6] . It was written by Muriel and Sydney Box based on the 1944 play by Denis and Mabel Constanduros. [7]

Contents

Premise

Peter Robinson falls in love with the naïve country girl Fay and the worldly, wealthy and already-married Joan, and lives with them both (and Joan's husband) at his parents' house. However, one day Peter's parents unexpectedly return from holiday, and all hell breaks loose.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Chief achievement of this film is its atmosphere of suburbia. In construction and treatment the technique is more of stage than of screen. That is true of the direction and photography, which are both otherwise competent. It is also true of the dialogue, which has a recognizable Constanduros flavour. And it is true of the acting. Harker and Betty Balfour, as Mr and Mrs. Robinson, and Jimmy Hanley, as their son, give the most satisfying of these performances. With better handling we may expect much more from young Jill Evans (Joan). Most audiences will be surprised by the uninhibited suggestions of sex; for, however true to life they may or may not be, they would certainly not have passed the Hayes office." [8]

Kine Weekly wrote: "There is some wit and no little truth in the hectic happenings, but nevertheless there are times when the frankness of its situations and dialogue is a trifle embarrassing. Although of the family, it is definitely not for the family. All the same, it should tickle industrial audiences. Its title and star values are, of course, good. Potential turn-up for the stout-hearted and broad-minded 'populars'." [9]

Sky Movies called the film "one wartime West End success that didn't transfer too well to screen, ending up embarrassingly stagey." [10]

The Radio Times thought that although the film "fails to fully disguise its theatrical origins...it nevertheless makes for pleasant period entertainment, with particularly likeable performances from British veterans Gordon Harker and Betty Balfour as the parents." [11]

References

  1. ↑ Geoffrey Macnab, J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry, London, Routledge (1993), p119
  2. ↑ Andrew Spicer, The Lion That Lost Its Way and Other Cautionary Tales of the Show Business Jungle: the autobiography of Sydney Box
  3. ↑ MacQuitty, William (1994). A Life to Remember. Quartet books. p. 296. ISBN   9780704327894.
  4. ↑ "29 Acacia Avenue". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  5. ↑ "29, Acacia Avenue". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Drazin, Charles (1998). The Finest Years: British Cinema of the 1940s. London: Andre Deutsch. p. 206. ISBN   9780233989853.
  7. ↑ Constanduros, Mabel; Constanduros, Denis (1944). Acacia Avenue: A Comedy in Three Acts (French's acting ed.). London: French.
  8. ↑ "29 Acacia Avenue". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 12 (133): 84. 1 January 1945. ProQuest   1305813005.
  9. ↑ "29 Acacia Avenue". Kine Weekly . 340 (1991): 20. 14 June 1945. ProQuest   2676984091.
  10. ↑ "29 Acacia Avenue". Find and Watch. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014.
  11. ↑ Tony Sloman. "29 Acacia Avenue". RadioTimes. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014.
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